Balcony Scene
Commentary doesn’t have much to say today. I don’t read Time Magazine these days, so I won’t comment.
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I attended a reception last night at the Thompson Hotel by Hyatt on Allen Parkway. This was my first visit to the Thompson. The featured photo is from the Thompson Hotel reception area balcony. Nice evening scene of Downtown H-Town.
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“Feliz Navidad” is a great Christmas tune. From the “Today” website is a story of a Latino’s first encounter with the tune:
I stared out the car window as my mom drove our Dodge Dart through the desert night. I was 10 years old, and my family was on a trip from Los Angeles to El Paso, Texas, to visit my grandpa for the holidays. Beside my mom, Aunt Emma was asleep in the front seat, and so were my brothers next to me in the back. Then the AM radio crackled. “Feliz Navidad,” a man sang. “I wanna wish you a merry Christmas, from the bottom of my heart!”
My mother hummed along with the melody. That song seemed like a beacon, the sound of people like us coming over the airwaves. We were in an old car on a dark road in the middle of nowhere. But with my family so close, and “Feliz Navidad” on the radio, it felt like the safest place in the world.
As a kid in the 1970s, I assumed that the voice behind “Feliz Navidad” was Mexican American like me. In fact, singer José Feliciano was born in 1945 in Puerto Rico. He wrote “Feliz Navidad” in 10 minutes and recorded it in one take, he once told The New Yorker. The novelty song that has become a holiday staple was released in 1970, when Richard Nixon was president, the Vietnam War was raging, and Hispanic Heritage Month didn’t exist yet.
For Feliciano, “Feliz Navidad” represented a comeback. After coming to prominence with his rendition of “Light My Fire” in 1968, he performed an unconventional version of the national anthem at the World Series. This generated a backlash that nearly derailed his career. Luckily, two years later Feliciano charmed his way back into the public eye with “Feliz Navidad.”
And this:
The genius of “Feliz Navidad” is its simplicity. It has only 19 words, 13 in English and six in Spanish. (The English: I wanna wish you a merry Christmas/ From the bottom of my heart. The Spanish: Feliz Navidad/ Próspero año y felicidad. Translated, it means merry Christmas and happy new year.) Feliciano repeats them for three minutes, long enough to craft a bouncy earworm. If you listen closely, you can hear the strings of the cuatro, an instrument derived from the guitar that often accompanies Christmas carols in Puerto Rico.
Like “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey, “Feliz Navidad” has become one of the best-known holiday songs of all time. It has been covered by artists including Luciano Pavarotti, Celine Dion and Latin superstar Thalia. For many Latinos, it is not officially the Christmas season until we’ve heard this song.
Here is the entire story: ‘Feliz Navidad’ Song: The Christmas Hit That Means a Lot to Me.
I can totally relate to this story. “Feliz Navidad” is still going strong.
I also remember the World Series game when he performed the National Anthem. I heard him perform the Anthem in person at a Walter Mondale for President rally in 1984 at Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi,
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It would not surprise me if Kyle Tucker is not wearing the orange and blue on Opening Day. If an MLB team is looking to be a serious contender, you want King Tuck in your lineup. You are just going to have to give up a whole lot to get him.
Alex Bregman’s agent addressed the media yesterday and said a bunch of teams were interested in Bregman. It would be a shame if the Astros let Bregman slip away.
